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"Monk" on USA worth watching
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Posted by: Hopeless

It might not be the BEST show on television, but it's worth a peek to see if it appeals to you.

The main character is a brilliant former San Francisco detective who is trying to overcome a lot of anxieties which were caused by the death of his wife. If the writers can keep Monk's eccentricities fresh and if they can keep them from becoming annoying, this will be a good show.

USA Network has come a long way...

Posted by: MirclMax

Its definitely one of the best things that has started new this summer ..

Hopefully it can keep things interesting and not become annoying.

Posted by: Graymalkin

I like it. Nice to see Bitty Schram again. (She was the one in "A League of Their Own" who got Tom Hanks to utter, "There's no cryin' in baseball!")

Posted by: grecorj

The show is just ok; my wife compared the plots to ones on shows like "Diagnosis Murder" or "Murder, She Wrote", and I have to agree that the mysteries aren't so mysterious. But Tony Shalhoub is great, worth it just for his performance.

Posted by: jasoncarr

It's interesting how often "annoying" comes up in the thread. :-) I was just saying to my wife that it hovers between interesting/annoying.

One thing I like about it is that the clues he picks up are generally shared in that scene, and not kept a secret until the end, and without the dumbed-down explication one finds in CSI.

(Arghhh, CSI could be *much* better without the "make sure the stupid audience understands" inclusions. Totally breaks the mood.)

Posted by: justapixel

I thought it was entertaining too. Very derivative of Columbo, but Tony Shalhoub is very engaging. I liked him on "Stark Raving Mad" and I like him on this.

And, jasoncarr, I agree with you on CSI. I love that show, but they don't need the explanations for the lesser IQ'ed out there....those folks are probably busy watching WWF anyway. ;)

Posted by: MacThor

I thought seeing Monk figure out crimes from the clues was very entertaining, and the OCD didn't bother me as much as some, but the cliche they went two twice....TWICE......really dropped the show down a notch IMO.

Spoiler Alert! (highlight to read)
Detectives including SWAT are converging on the suspect, and he slips away, and only Monk sees him getting away? Come on, I can see him figuring out things other detectives can't, but having the police so hapless at physical pursuit???

Posted by: justapixel

quote:
Originally posted by MacThor
I thought seeing Monk figure out crimes from the clues was very entertaining, and the OCD didn't bother me as much as some, but the cliche they went two twice....TWICE......really dropped the show down a notch IMO.

One scene that cracked me up was the scene where Monk was meeting with a group of the top leaders in SF. They are in some conference room, and they have the deputy mayor, police chief, and other important folks in town discussing the case.

And, everybody in the scene was a white male.

This is set in San Francisco. In real life, the leaders are all black, asian or female or any combination of the above. If any white men would be in that room, they would be noticably gay.

Not very realistic. :rolleyes: They missed a perfect opportunity to get some minority actors employed and be realistic at the same time.

Posted by: murgatroyd

quote:
Originally posted by justapixel

One scene that cracked me up was the scene where Monk was meeting with a group of the top leaders in SF. They are in some conference room, and they have the deputy mayor, police chief, and other important folks in town discussing the case.

And, everybody in the scene was a white male.

This is set in San Francisco. In real life, the leaders are all black, asian or female or any combination of the above. If any white men would be in that room, they would be noticably gay.

Not very realistic. :rolleyes: They missed a perfect opportunity to get some minority actors employed and be realistic at the same time.

Hear, hear!

I've definitely been spoiled by Nash Bridges. Sure, they pushed the comic bits with Cheech Marin's character WAY WAY too much (Cheech is a fine actor, he can be funny with ordinary material & doesn't need something written for an obvious clown), there were many episodes where the writing was totally lame, etc. etc.

But you gotta love a show where some of the guys get busted back to the street and are sent to clean up the Civic Center, and in the next scene, you actually see -- Civic Center! :D

No shots of Vancouver in that show. Hey, I like Vancouver, but why don't they just write us some shows that take place there, instead of trying to pass it off as San Francisco?

Jan

Posted by: IJustLikeTivo

quote:
Originally posted by Graymalkin
I like it. Nice to see Bitty Schram again. (She was the one in "A League of Their Own" who got Tom Hanks to utter, "There's no cryin' in baseball!")

Thanks, I've been driving myself nuts (not too hard) trying to remember where I had seen her before. I think the dark hair threw me off.

IJLT

Posted by: Ilovetorecord2

The one thing that bothers me, since we are all using keyboards is how he knew the keyboard was wiped cleaned. Your eyesight usually would not work, would have to be dusted.

But I do like the show.

Posted by: johnjohn

quote:
Originally posted by Ilovetorecord2
The one thing that bothers me, since we are all using keyboards is how he knew the keyboard was wiped cleaned. Your eyesight usually would not work, would have to be dusted.

Um, I'm pretty sure it was dusted. Either that, or my imagination filled in an unshot scene with fingerprint dust on the keyboard.

Posted by: johnjohn

IMHO, the second episode totally sucked. Interesting setup, but the ending...

Posted by: scooterboy

quote:
Originally posted by johnjohn
IMHO, the second episode totally sucked. Interesting setup, but the ending...

I don't think it sucked, but I do agree the end could have been written a little more cleverly.

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by johnjohn
IMHO, the second episode totally sucked. Interesting setup, but the ending...

The ending was hard to believe - a bit much even for Perry Mason...

Posted by: bobcarn

I just saw it for the first time and really liked it. The only episode I saw (the psychic one) was a tad weak in that the ending was a bit unbelievable, but still very enjoyable.

Posted by: Pan Chun

I really like this show. Did you recognize Captain Stoddlemeyer? Ted Levine was "Buffalo Bill" in The Silence of the Lambs! :eek: "It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!" :eek: :eek:

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by Pan Chun
I really like this show. Did you recognize Captain Stoddlemeyer? Ted Levine was "Buffalo Bill" in The Silence of the Lambs! :eek: "It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!" :eek: :eek:

Yep, he has a very distinctive voice that's hard to miss. For a while, whenever I saw him in a show it really freaked me out (especially if he was playing a "good guy"). I think the first time I saw him outside of "Lambs" was on Moby Dick w/ Patrick Stewart.

J :)

PS. welcome back PC!!! :D

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by Ilovetorecord2
The one thing that bothers me, since we are all using keyboards is how he knew the keyboard was wiped cleaned. Your eyesight usually would not work, would have to be dusted.

But I do like the show.

I've only watched the premier episode, but I can say that I like it (but don't love it). Did you notice though that in the first crime-scene scene Monk wasn't wearing gloves! Everyone else was but him. What's up with that? :confused:

J

Posted by: DanT

Here's my theory: Because of his OCD, he knew he wouldn't be touching anything, therefore no gloves necessary.

Posted by: murgatroyd

quote:
Originally posted by jradosh
I've only watched the premier episode, but I can say that I like it (but don't love it). Did you notice though that in the first crime-scene scene Monk wasn't wearing gloves! Everyone else was but him. What's up with that? :confused:

J

I'd bet Monk can't stand the idea of wearing latex gloves. Cheap disposables aren't sterile. God knows where they've been? And that powdery stuff they use to 'lubricate' them -- eeeeuuuuuwwww.

You'd think that a guy who can't stand germs would glove up to protect himself. Well, that works until later on when you have to take them off. Then you've got these gloves which you know are utterly contaminated with gunk that you didn't want to have in contact with your skin in the first place. Try getting them off without touching them.

It's probably easier just to wash.

Jan

Posted by: CoosCoos

I concur. I saw the premiere at a friend's house and setup a season pass immediately. I hope they tone down some of his weird traits, just a *tad*. I don't want it to get worn out. The next two shows were very good, especially "Dale the Whale".

Posted by: Pan Chun

quote:
Originally posted by CoosCoos
The next two shows were very good, especially "Dale the Whale".

I didn't catch a credits list before deleting the show...was that Adam Arkin playing Dale Biederbeck? If it WASN'T, the actor sure did remind me of him.

Posted by: DanT

Well look at this, Pan's back:

quote:
Originally posted by Pan Chun
I didn't catch a credits list before deleting the show...was that Adam Arkin playing Dale Biederbeck? If it WASN'T, the actor sure did remind me of him.

That episode doesn't have an entry yet on IMDB, but I'm almost positive it was him.

Posted by: JonH

quote:
Originally posted by Pan Chun
I didn't catch a credits list before deleting the show...was that Adam Arkin playing Dale Biederbeck? If it WASN'T, the actor sure did remind me of him.

Dale the Whale was played by Adam Arkin.

JonH

Posted by: Pan Chun

Looks like it WAS him.

Posted by: Knouse

Sharona is my favorite. Thanks Graymalkin, I knew I'd seen her somewhere but couldn't place her. Every time I see Tony Shalhoub I remember him deadpanning the line "Uh, Captain? The tell me she can't take any more" in Galaxy Quest. The show is cute.

Posted by: Graymalkin

I like this show. Between this and "The Dead Zone," USA Network has definitely upgraded itself this summer.

Posted by: betativoII

quote:
Originally posted by Graymalkin
I like this show. Between this and "The Dead Zone," USA Network has definitely upgraded itself this summer.

I was really disappointed when they cancelled The Huntress and Cover Me. I enjoyed both of those shows.

Posted by: cheerdude

Count me as another "Cover Me" fan.... and a "Monk" fan as well. Just saw the pilot episode - liked it.

Posted by: Pan Chun

quote:
Originally posted by Pan Chun
Did you recognize Captain Stoddlemeyer? Ted Levine was "Buffalo Bill" in The Silence of the Lambs! :eek: "It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!" :eek: :eek:

Quite coincidentally, Silence is currently running again on TMC, so I put it on in order to catch a glimpse of Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill...

I'm not up to that part yet, but another familiar face cropped up unexpectedly early in the film...Anthony Heald (who plays Scott Guber on Boston Public) was the warden/doctor in charge of the facility where Clarice Starling first meets Hannibal Lecter! He was, of course, a bit younger and with longer hair there...he sort of resembled what might be the illegitimate love child of Gary Cole and Nick Nolte! (See attached) :eek:

Posted by: ellinj

This show is actually pretty amusing Looks like ABC likes it too, since they are going to be showing reruns in primetime.

Posted by: Dignan

Here's the thing. I like the interaction between Sharona and Monk, like the way he solves things and the quirky OCD behavior. But, I wish the plots were a bit more clever, the resolutions of the episodes are just sort of "Eh?".

Posted by: boywaja

I liked tonights episode. Yeah the plots are really hackneyed and the resolution is generally thrown together. There is something amusing about the show that is worth watching.

roger

Posted by: feldon23

2nd episode was very weak. Episode from last night was better.

I do wish Shaloub had not changed his voice so much from the pilot to the other episodes, but of course 4-6 months go by between a pilot greenlight and the rest of the episodes. It can't be helped.

Hopefully the mysteries improve a bit as time goes on. :)

Posted by: harvscar

quote:
Originally posted by CoosCoos
:confused: Huh?

Didn't notice that.

The other night's "Monk goes to the Assylum" was quite good. This show continues to get better.

That must have been on Cinemax. :D

It was nice to see Kevin Nealon working again, he did a fine job to boot. This show is very enjoyable, especially the dynamic betwen Monk and Sharona (sp?).

Posted by: justapixel

I like this show too, and I don't know why, the plots are so lame. I guess the Monk character is so charming it's easy to forgive the mistakes.

When they get to the necklace part, if you haven't seen the Kevin Nealon show yet, pay attention.

Spoiler Alert! (highlight to read)
When Monk compliments the necklace, it's black. When they pull it out of his pocket, it's gold. Later when it's back on her, it's black again.